Category Archives: colon cancer

December 29, 2016 · 3:05 pm

Study shows Vitamin E and Selenium don’t cut colon cancer risk

As one of the former big proponents of Vitamin E, I was disappointed to learn that it does not have all of the healthy impacts I had heard. I just ran across this information that came out a few days ago.

Eight years ago, results from a landmark cancer prevention trial run by SWOG, a National Cancer Institute supported organization, showed that a daily dose of vitamin E and selenium did not prevent prostate cancer. In fact, the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) showed that vitamin E supplementation increased the risk of prostate cancer in healthy men.

Nuts and avocados are natural sources of Vitamin E

Now, a SWOG review of ancillary SELECT results definitively shows that these two antioxidants also don’t prevent colorectal adenomas – polyps that are the premalignant precursors to most colorectal cancers. Results are published in Cancer Prevention Research.

“The message to the public is this: Vitamin E and selenium will not prevent colorectal adenomas, which are surrogates for colorectal cancer,” said Dr. Peter Lance, lead author of the journal article and deputy director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center. “We have no evidence that these supplements work to prevent cancer.”

Despite the billions spent in the United States each year on vitamin supplements, there is scant evidence they prevent cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, which funds SWOG through its National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), results from nine randomized trials did not provide evidence that antioxidant supplements are beneficial in primary cancer prevention. An in-depth review conducted for the United States Preventive Services Task Force likewise found no clear evidence of benefit. Continue reading →

Ways to Cut Your Colon Cancer Risk

Every day, eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber from fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans or whole-grain breads and cereals. It’s also important to eat a low-fat diet, because colorectal cancer has been linked to diets high in saturated fat. You should also include foods with folate, such as leafy green vegetables.

Cooking with Kathy Man

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, but there are ways of reducing your risk.

“Colorectal cancer is largely preventable with early screening and detection,” Dr. Anne Lin, assistant professor of general surgery for the University of California, Los Angeles, Health System and David Geffen School of Medicine, said in a UCLA news release.

Taking the following measures can help you lower your risk of developing colorectal cancer, according to UCLA experts.

If you have a normal level of risk, you should get regular screenings beginning at age 50. If you’re at high risk — with a personal or family history of colorectal cancer, other cancers or inflammatory bowel disease — you should talk to your doctor about beginning screenings before age 50.

Every day, eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber from fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans or whole-grain breads and cereals. It’s also important to eat…

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How to Boost Your Energy with Breakfast – Harvard

This is from the “always nice to see your ideas come out of other people” department. I am a big believer in starting the day with a big nutritious breakfast. Harvard’s HEALTHbeat publication agrees.

“If you miss the day’s first meal, notes Dr. David S. Ludwig, a nutrition expert at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston, you may start off with an energy deficit and have to tap into your energy reserves.”

Amen, Dr. Ludwig.

HEALTHbeat says to include healthful protein, slowly digested carbs and some fruit or vegetables.
Here are their four tips for creating an energy boosting breakfast:
1. Choose whole grains. High-fiber, whole-grain cereals and breads can help keep your blood sugar on an even keel and avoid a midmorning energy crash. With the hundreds of types of cereal on the market, bran cereal, bran flakes, and steel-cut oatmeal are typically the healthiest bets. To choose the healthiest breakfast cereal, read the label and look for:

• 5 grams or more of fiber per serving
• less than 300 milligrams of sodium per serving
• less than 5 grams of sugar per serving
• whole grain as the first item on the ingredient list

2. Include protein. Yogurt is a good choice; Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt. Eggs (up to one a day) are okay for healthy people. Although yolks are high in cholesterol, eggs have proteins, vitamins, and other nutrients and don’t appear to increase the risk for developing heart disease.

You might also include foods that have healthful fats such as those in nuts or salmon. Limit processed meats to the occasional treat as these foods are associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

3. Eat in, not out. You can enjoy a healthful breakfast out if you stick to oatmeal. But much of the traditional fare will start your day with loads of refined carbohydrates and saturated fat. Like most processed food, the breakfast offerings from fast-food chains tend to be high-sodium, low-fiber disasters.

4. Blend up a breakfast smoothie. Combine fruit, juice, yogurt, wheat germ, tofu, and other ingredients. Toss them in your blender with a bit of ice and you have a refreshing, high energy breakfast.

I concoct a breakfast smoothie every morning in my Vita-Mix machine with strawberries, blueberries, banana and this week I started adding green veggies like kale and spinach.

These four tips are part of a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School – Boosting Your Energy.

Tony

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December 29, 2012 · 5:47 am

Harvard on Healthy Alcohol Use

With New Year’s Eve looming and the prospect of drinking alcohol as an integral part of our celebration, the Harvard School of Public Health has some suggestions on the healthy use of alcohol.

“While moderate drinking can increase the risk of colon and breast cancer, these risks are trumped by the boost in cardiovascular health—especially in middle age, when heart disease begins to account for an increasingly large share of disease and deaths.”

A visual guide to moderate drinking

Moderate drinking amounts to one drink a day for women, for men whose bodies on average are larger, it’s up to two drinks a day. As the illustration shows: one drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine and 1-1/2 ounces of hard liquor.

Harvard offered 5 Quick Tips on Staying Healthy with Alcohol

1. If you don’t drink, there’s no need to start. For some people—especially pregnant women, people recovering from alcohol addiction, people with a family history of alcoholism, people with liver disease, and people taking one or more medications that interact with alcohol—the risks of drinking outweigh the benefits.

There are other ways to boost your heart health and lower your risk of diabetes, such as getting more active, staying at a healthy weight, or eating healthy fats and whole grains.

2. If you do drink, drink in moderation—and choose whatever drink you like. Wine, beer, or spirits—each seems to have the same health benefits as long as moderation’s the word (no more than one drink per day for women, and no more than two drinks per day for men).

3. Take a multivitamin with folic acid. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, a B vitamin that may help lower the risk of heart disease and cancers of the colon and breast. Those who drink may benefit the most from getting extra folate, since alcohol moderately depletes our body’s stores. The amount in a standard multivitamin—400 micrograms—is enough, when combined with a healthy diet.

4. Ask your doctor about your drinking habits. If you (or your friends) think you may have a problem with drinking, talk to a doctor or other health professional about it. He or she can help.

5. Pick a designated driver. Alcohol and driving do not mix. If you’ve been out drinking cocktails and it’s time to head home, hand your car keys to someone who’s been sipping seltzer all night.

Harvard offered a full article on alcohol here.

Tony

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Tagged as alcohol, alcohol addiction, alcohol drinking, colon cancer, harvard school of public health, health, healthy eating, healthy-living, heart disease, nutrition, weight

December 13, 2012 · 4:21 am

New Breath Test for Colon Cancer

It’s exactly a month ago that I wrote What Should I Know About Colon Cancer?

Although your lifetime risk of coming down with it is around five percent, the mortality rates are approximately 50 percent.

Now comes news that Italian doctors have developed a simple breath analysis tool that has the potential for the screening and diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

Alexandra Sifferlin wrote in Time Magazine that in a small study of 80 participants, “researchers from the the University Aldo Moro of Bari in Italy found a profile of breath-based chemicals that are linked to colorectal cancer. The scientists collected exhaled breath from 37 patients with colorectal cancer and 41 healthy control participants, and evaluated them for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could be red flags for cancer. According to the researchers, cancer tissues operate differently compared to non-cancerous cells and may release a distinct chemical signature.”

The good news for us regular folks is that this simple low cost technique could provide an alternative to colonoscopies that deter many people.

“The technique of breath sampling is very easy and non-invasive, although the method is still in the early phase of development,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Donato F. Altomare in a statement. “Our study’s findings provide further support for the value of breath testing as a screening tool,” Time reported.

The American Cancer Society’s Dr. Ted Gansler told CNN. “The main goals of current screening tests are not just to find any colorectal cancer, but rather to find early–curable–cancers and precancerous polyps that can be removed to prevent cancer from developing.” According to Gansler, about only half of Americans ages 50 and older are currently getting tested for colon cancer.”

Although these are early times, if these tests work out many more people may get diagnosed early. Colon cancer is a slow growing disease, so early diagnosis saves lives.

Tony

What Should I Know About Colon Cancer?

Some 143,460 new cases of colorectal cancer are found each year. Your lifetime risk of coming down with it is around five percent as one in 18 Americans gets it. The mortality rates are approximately 50 percent for all cases. The outcome is very much related to the stage of the disease at diagnosis. So, detection of early stage tumors should improve prognosis. Carcinomas generally begin as polyps so their removal should reduce cancer incidence. So says Dr. Barbara Jung, Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Colon cancer remains common and deadly. Effective screening measures are available. Any test is better than no test. Finally, family history is important.

She said that the guidelines for screening are that a person 50 years or older should have a colonoscopy every 10 years, or a CT colonography every five years, or a flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years. As colon cancer is a slow growing cancer these apparently long periods are sufficient for protection.

Dr. Jung was speaking before the Northwestern Memorial Healthy Transitions Program®. Despite some of the bleak aspects of her subject, she concluded with something very positive. She said that exercise and a good diet have been shown to reduce colon cancer. Vegetarians are found to have less colon cancer. She said there were good studies to document the effectiveness of exercise in protecting against colon cancer.

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health said in a report, “What is the relationship between physical activity and colon cancer risk?
Continue reading →